Commander Pinter Ch. 04

Crossbow!

Pinter jumped the distance back to the walkway, looped her arm around the rail, and shoved her boot heel in the Orc's face. His nose exploded red and he cried in pain. Pinter grabbed the crossbow that he dropped, shot the Orc through his hand that covered his bloody face, and snatched a few of the arrows that were in the quiver on his wolf. The other Orcs were about to recover from their fall, and so Pinter dropped back into the ravine, sprinting hard and fast through the spider web of shadows.

Orcs were yelling everywhere. She had to find some higher ground. She was a sitting duck down here. Pinter jumped, grabbed the ravine edge, and pulled herself up and out.

A female Orc howled and cut down with a polearm with a massive blade on the end. Pinter rolled, and the blade struck dirt. Pinter swept her legs and knocked down the Orc, and she pumped both legs against her, shoving her into the ravine. The polearm remained. Pinter picked it up and ran, slinging the crossbow over her shoulder.

Pinter found a tall totem next to one of the huts. She ran for it, only to find two Orcs waiting for her, jumping out of the shadows it seemed. Pinter growled as she led with the blade, ramming it through the nearest Orc's abdomen. She pushed him back onto his friend who dropped his spiked mace, letting go of the polearm as they tumbled away. She was free, and she hopped onto the totem, shimmying her way up, leaping onto the hut's clefthoof-hide rooftop.

Orcs swarmed into the open like ants running to a stricken mantis. Pinter kicked over the totem so they couldn't follow her. That just seemed to enrage them further.

Oh, well, she thought. Sorry for your religion, but I'd rather live.

Pinter ran across the rooftop, coming to the edge, jumping to the next one. As she made the jump she felt the support struts give way, and as she went airborne the entire structure collapsed behind her.

Howls of rage sounded, but Pinter kept running. Arrows zinged all around, and Pinter ducked a few projectiles, but she continued. She reached the next edge and jumped, feeling the hut give way again. She ran across three more huts, each of them collapsing as she jumped. She would definitely not become a fuck slave at this rate. She wouldn't even live long enough to be snake food. Pinter had more important things to worry about than what these Orcs would do to her if they caught her now, so she just kept running.

Finally she reached the edge of the last hut. There was a tower, a large platform on four tall legs, and there was a rope leading up. Pinter set her feet and she jumped, catching the rope, the hut collapsing again behind her. She swung back and forth a few times, but she wrapped her arms and legs around the rope, and she climbed. The rope went taut below her, and she knew they were following. Pinter kept climbing, the platform edge just a few feet away now. She stopped as an arrow whistled just past her head, sticking loudly in the bottom of the platform, and she kept going, reaching it finally, hauling herself onto solid ground.

"You defile us!" an Orc yelled at her. Pinter raised the crossbow and shot him through the forehead. He fell flat on his face, dead. He was a priest from the look, and this was some sort of ritual site with a fire burning on three stones in the middle. Pinter looked back down the rope.

The Orcs were right there, snarling, reaching for the edge. Pinter punched the top Orc. He held his grip, and so she shot him in the face. He dropped into the Orc behind him, and they all crashed down in succession. Eight of them tumbled down from the rope. When they cleared, Pinter pulled up the long ladder. She was safe for now, but how the hell would she ever get down from here?

Just then a familiar war cry sounded. A Draenei voice. A woman.

"Mandala!" Pinter yelled over the edge.

And it was her, rushing up the road on her Talbuk, her sword out to her side, chopping down four Orcs in a line as they stared in disbelief at this newcomer. A dozen Orcs rushed to meet her, to surround her, and Pinter's heart dropped for a second, but then someone else appeared.

A Saberon ran behind Mandala on all fours, growling ferociously, and Pinter couldn't believe what she was seeing. It was her Saberon! She was sure of it. Who else would it be?

Mandala and the Saberon went to work, Mandala fighting from Talbuk-back, the Saberon working the periphery so no one snuck up on the paladin. Soon the camp was filled with dozens of dead and wounded Orcs, the rest rushing away to regroup. Pinter stood and waved her hand high overhead. "Mandala!" she yelled. "Up here!"

The Draenei saw her, meeting Pinter with her eyes of blue light. She grinned and kicked her Talbuk. The Saberon followed, guarding her rear.

"It's too far for you, Pinter," Mandala called up.

"There's a rope," Pinter said, and she dropped it down.

Mandala pulled her Talbuk alongside. "You can make it," Mandala said. "Drop down."

Pinter kissed her gloves, praying they wouldn't burn through. She grabbed the rope, lowered over the edge, and slid down. Thankfully her gloves held fast, but she missed Mandala's Talbuk. The Draenei reached down and pulled Pinter up. Pinter put her arms around Mandala's waist, the heat of her friend a welcome touch after what she had just endured. "What took you so long?" Pinter asked.

"I got a little tied up," Mandala said.

The Saberon bounded up and looked at Pinter with his big yellow eyes, the pupils growing to wide circles. Pinter laughed and touched his nose. The Saberon poked out his tongue, and then a host of Orc war cries rang out deep in the village.

"Anywhere but here?" Mandala asked.

"Do you have to ask?" Pinter answered, and they raced out of the Mok'gul camp.

* * *

The river was a jewel glowing gentle blue through the Nagrand plains. Pinter crouched on the bank splashing water in her face, scooping it to her mouth in her palms. She had never felt more refreshed. The water seemed to reach every part of her body, bringing her back to life, bringing her renewed strength. Pinter shook her head as she threw a fresh splash in her eyes.

"Thankfully my Talbuk hadn't run far," Mandala said. "Otherwise I don't know if we would have found you in time."

"You found me," Pinter said. "That's all that matters."

"And your friend is with us again," Mandala said, glancing back at the Saberon who was hunting fish with his bare hands. They watched as he sat motionless on the riverbank, patiently staring into the still gentle water. Then he darted, and he burst the river in a spray of white foam, emerging with a wriggling black whiptail in both of his paws. The Saberon tossed the fish behind him onto a pile of three others. They wouldn't go hungry tonight. "He's quite the fighter," Mandala said.

"He knows what he's doing," Pinter said. "If he sticks around long enough he might come in handy in Highmaul."

"How do we even know there is a raiding party waiting for us?" Mandala said. "We've already been betrayed. Maybe it's all a lie."

"Grammosh was there," Pinter said. "They know we're coming. I don't know if the other raiders are okay, but we have to tell Khadgar we've been sniffed out. That Goblin who met us claimed to be Steamwheedle. Have the Steamwheedle ever betrayed anyone like that?"

Mandala shook her head. "No," she said. "They would never."

"Their headquarters are just up the road," Pinter said with a nod. "I say we pay them a visit, see if they know who this Jeezelrod fellow is."

"And while we're there maybe we can connect with Khadgar," Mandala said.

"And the other raiders," Pinter said. "We have to find them. We have to finish this."

"We will stand united, Commander," Mandala said.

Mandala stepped closer to Pinter and put her arm around her. Pinter looped hers around Mandala's midriff. They watched the water flow as the Saberon sat motionless up the riverbank, as the sun dipped lower to the horizon and the Nagrand sky glowed orange with sunset.